Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office(FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP, N.J.) — A New Jersey woman who was killed allegedly at the hands of her ex-boyfriend was mourned at a hometown funeral Friday morning.
Stephanie Parze, a 25-year-old living in Freehold Township, disappeared on the night of Oct. 30, 2019, sparking a months-long search organized by her grief-stricken parents.
Her body was found on Sunday in a wooded area of nearby Old Bridge.
“I can’t imagine how we are going to get through this,” Ed Parze wrote on Facebook on Thursday.
Stephanie Parze’s ex-boyfriend, John Ozbilgen, who died by apparent suicide on Nov. 22, was named Monday as a suspect in her murder.
Ozbilgen’s death came before any charges in connection with Stephanie Parze’s disappearance, but police did find a suicide note which Monmouth County Prosecutor Christoper Gramiccioni said “reaffirmed” his “responsibility” for her death.
Ed Parze’s Thursday Facebook post addressed his daughter directly, saying, “When I’m at my worst, Momma is at her strongest and when she’s at her worst it seems my strength appears.”
A sober morning here in freehold, as people arrive for the Funeral Services for Stephanie Parze. @njnntv pic.twitter.com/BUvW0ZUvuJ
— Heather Fordham (@heatherfordham_) January 31, 2020
“You are so loved baby girl,” he said. “You will live in everyone’s hearts forever and ever. We will make sure your legacy lives on.”
Ed Parze said Monday that his family plans to launch a foundation to bring “awareness to battered women and missing people.”
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